Before The Blast by Akiva Orr The following piece originally appeared in Hebrew in the Israeli journal "Mitsad Sheni" (on the other hand), and was reprinted in "Outlook" Magazine (Vancouver), April 1-May 15, 1997. Akiva Orr is a member of the Israeli Committee for a Middle-East Free from Nuclear, Chemical, and Bacteriological Weapons and for the Release of Mordechai Vanunu. Mordechai Vanunu languishes 10 years in solitary confinement in Ashkelon in Israel for having divulged to the London Sunday Times details of Israel's nuclear weapons program. Had Israel's nuclear policy resulted from a Knesset decision, Vanunu would not have done what he did. The fact that the Knesset never debated nuclear policy motivated Vanunu to reveal what should never have been a secret. Vanunu didn't do it for money, nor did he get any. He remains unrepentant to this day. He wanted to publicize an ominous decision kept secret from the Israel public. No elected representative has the right to make, and hide from those who elected him, a decision crucial to their lives. In Israel this is common practice and most people accept it. Vanunu refused to do so. Israeli nuclear policy decisions were taken 40 years ago by one man, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, without any debate in the Knesset or its committees. The decisions flowed from the assumption that a coordinated military attack by Arab states could wipe out Israel. To forestall this Ben-Gurion opted for nuclear bombs as a "last option", an ultimate deterrent. The possibility that such a policy might start an Arab effort to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear arms was not taken seriously. Two major changes render Israel's nuclear policy obsolete, with possibly catastrophic consequences. The first is the appearance of medium range missiles in all Arab armies. The second is the availability of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union. Within a few years most Arab states will have rockets armed with nuclear warheads capable of hitting any point in Israel. Israel is far more vulnerable to a nuclear attack than the Arab world. Two or three nuclear bombs exploding over the urban areas of Tel Aviv and Haifa will put an end to Israel. Even if the number of dead is below one million much of the coastal plain will become radioactive and uninhabitable for many years. A retaliative strike by Israel will wreak heavy damage but will not put an end to the Arab world. An Arab ruler may be tempted by the "first strike" idea. In this situation it is of vital interest to Israel to pursue intensively a policy to ban all nuclear, chemical, and bacteriological weapons from the entire Middle-East. The Israeli military and political establishment adamantly refuses to consider such a policy. Moreover, the Knesset has never debated a proposal to make the entire Middle-East free from nuclear, chemical, and bacteriological weapons. When will the Knesset debate such a policy? After the radioactive dust settles on Tel Aviv?

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